Lawyer in bribery trial will not be held in contempt for bean-bag toss

By Katie Mulvaney

Tuesday

Feb 25, 2014 at 12:01 AM

PROVIDENCE — A lawyer will not be held in contempt of court for throwing bean bags during closing arguments in the highly charged bribery trial of defense lawyer Donna Uhlmann.A Superior Court jury acquitted...

PROVIDENCE — A lawyer will not be held in contempt of court for throwing bean bags during closing arguments in the highly charged bribery trial of defense lawyer Donna Uhlmann.

A Superior Court jury acquitted Uhlmann and her codefendant Jamaal Dublin after a weeks-long trial marked by acrimony and resulting in Dublin’s lawyer, Christopher T. Millea, facing contempt accusations for his tactics.

Millea threw two bean bags at a courtroom door, in comparing the state’s case to excrement, before Judge William E. Carnes Jr. intervened.

“You see, all of this has to do with the throwing of feces. The state wants to throw as much against the wall to see what sticks, just like Michael Drepaul throwing his feces …” Millea said. He was referring to a key state witness and felon, who threw his waste at a prison guard.

Millea retrieved the bean bags from a box he placed in front of the jury. The tossed bean bags landed in another larger box near the door that Millea then also placed in front of the jury.

“I would suggest to you, ladies and gentlemen, that after the state has thrown the feces against the wall …” Millea continued. Assistant Attorney General Scott Erickson objected.

It was discovered that Millea had written “reasonable doubt” on one box and “state’s case” on the other on the sides facing the jury. Carnes stopped the proceedings and ordered the jury from the room.

With the jury gone, Carnes initiated a contempt action against Millea. A hearing on the matter took place Feb. 18.

Carnes noted at that hearing that he had admonished Erickson two days before the closing arguments for making a comment aimed at Uhlmann’s lawyer Gary Pelletier.

“… There was a great crowd that was present just given the notoriety of this particular trial,” Carnes said according to a transcript of the Feb. 18 proceedings. “When all zeal gets to the point where the decorum is improper in this room, it is my job to step in.”

The code of judicial conduct gives a judge the authority to take action if lawyers behave in an unbecoming manner or fail to maintain decorum, Carnes said.

“ … I would simply suggest that you do what you feel is necessary that would restore the dignity and the decorum that is required,” Erickson said.

David A. Levy, Uhlmann’s lawyer, also spoke. “I indicated at the time and I continue to believe that, unfortunately, given the nature of the trial, to say that things out of the ordinary took place would perhaps be an understatement. … There were actions of all counsel, but again, focusing on myself, actions that I’m not terribly proud of to this day,” Levy said. He expressed regret for telling Erickson to “grow up” at one point.

Millea, too, offered an apology: “Your honor, if I did something to offend the dignity of this court in representing Mr. Dublin — as the court mentioned a zealous defense is what I pride myself on — but if I did something to offend this court, I am truly sorry.”

His lawyer, Daniel Connors, emphasized that the rules of professional conduct presuppose that a lawyer’s duty is to zealously advocate for the client. They also command that a judge be patient, dignified and courteous and reflective about “what it means for a lawyer to be engaged in the adversarial system,” Connors said.

In ruling, Carnes noted that Millea did not seek his permission to use the props. He recounted the tensions the case elicited, including four or five motions for a mistrial.

“Given the acrimony and the profile of this trial, given the number of people who … watched the trial, it was important to keep this particular trial from degenerating into a circus,” Carnes said. “If the trial, acrimonious as it was, degenerated into a circus, then the public would lose respect for the proceedings that occur day in and day throughout the course of years in this particular building.”

Carnes accepted Millea’s apology. “The purpose of this proceeding is to make it clear to anyone who is watching just how important decorum is, and just how important it is to maintain so that we can maintain public confidence in the courts.”

Carnes believed he had made his point, he said, and would not hold Millea in contempt.

Prosecutors had accused Uhlmann and Dublin of plotting with Dublin’s former lawyer Gerard H. Donley to obstruct justice by paying a witness not to testify against Dublin in a stabbing case.

Donley was found guilty of the same charges at a separate trial. Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause sentenced Donley to serve six years in prison. Dublin later pleaded no contest to felony assault for stabbing Drepaul.

On Twitter: @kmulvane

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